The Faith Which I Rely On

     Y’all it was a day let me tell ya. It started off with attacks of the enemy, and it ended with my back in a bind. I might have slightly lost my faith in humanity, thankfully my faith in God is stronger than ever, and it's that faith on which I rely. 
   The country as a whole, the world even, is going through an awful lot right now. People are scared, they’re lost, they're losing sleep over their worries. Well, let me introduce you to my life, and a man named Jesus.
     In 2009 Kenny and I brought our son, Cash, home from the hospital after a bumpy start to his little life. He was born only two weeks early, but he had lung issues right away and spent his first four days in NICU struggling to breathe. I had never had a sick newborn before (Cash is #5 out of 7). It was difficult in those few days, but when we brought him home, healthy, I put it behind me and got on with life.
     Cash would end up being in the hospital another 8 times in his first two years of life (admitted more than 3 days and up to 30 days at a time) He would subsequently be at the ER and the doctor's office so many times I lost count. Lung infection after lung infection, pneumonia, skin infections, ear infections, a bone infection, sepsis. You name it, that poor little guy got it. It was nothing for us to have to take him to the ER, for one thing, only to have him pick up something else while there. He was a sick little boy.
   In the weeks after his second birthday, he was hospitalized after having a tonsillectomy because he had developed three separate infections, one of which ended up taking his left lung. It literally liquified his lung and the lung drained out a chest tube that had been placed in his side. These were dark days. I was 8 months pregnant, and a hot mess most of the time. Cash was hospitalized three hours from our home, and I stayed with him the entire time while Kenny was home and working. It was difficult, and it was character building. It was our wilderness, and that season in our lives was just plain difficult on so many levels. 

     When he was finally well enough to come home after losing his lung, it was a whole new world for us. He was soon diagnosed with a Primary Immune Deficiency, and that brought it's own set of new challenges as we learned to navigate the world of germs, but the diagnosis also helped our son to live a healthier life because we knew what we were up against and that Cash wasn't like every other child. He was healthier than he'd ever been after diagnosis. He still had infections, and a few hospital stays, but taking a daily antibiotic prophylactically, and taking precautions for him, we were able to keep infections to a minimum. 
     By the time we moved to Florida four years ago Cash was holding his own, and the warm weather here only helped. We had always been told a warmer climate may make a world of difference as he had the most illnesses in the fall/winter/early spring months. Since moving to Florida Cash has had no hospital stays, and only a few minor infections. We have truly been blessed. We believe Cash could be healed, as we fully know God has the power to do that, but I say he is healed cautiously only because so many kids who have Primary Immune Deficiencies have months and even years of good health, and then relapse. We take every day one day at a time with Cash, and we're truly thankful for every good health day he has. We believe the Lord has His hand on Cash, and that Cash has a mighty Godly purpose on this earth.
     Enter stage left, COVID-19. Everyone is freaking out a bit, and we're just over here trying to decide how to best keep our immune-compromised son safe. It's funny, I had almost forgotten the urgency of keeping him safe until all this happened, and then this virus wisped in and changed all our lives and rocked our little piece of the world. We are fortunate to already be homeschooling, so we didn't have to worry about school, but with the numbers increasing rapidly of diagnosed cases, and Florida being number 4 in the number of cases in an individual state, we aren't taking chances with Cash. He has not left our home in over a week now, neither have our other kids. I have left only a few times for necessities, and errands. Kenny has continued to go to school on the weekdays. We are very aware that one of us could bring something back to Cash, so we are trying to minimize that possibility.

   Y'all I do not want to minimize the God factor here. This virus is a big deal, but my God is a bigger deal. We have faith, but we have common sense too, That's why we are limiting contacts and keeping to ourselves (social distancing) to protect our son. So when I came against the enemy this morning and it rocked my faith in humans for a hot minute, let me tell you, God reminded me pretty quickly of all the blessings in my life, and how my faith in Him has carried me through some pretty rough stuff. My faith is stronger today than it's ever been. This virus crisis doesn't scare me. Am I going to be smart, of course, but I'm not scared because I know who holds the future. 
   I guess I'm writing all this to say Jesus is King, God is in control and if I'm not scared, you shouldn't be either. We have someone in our home who falls into that the demographic of people who really need to be concerned about this thing, and still, we're not scared. Fear is of the devil, and we will not be shaken by a devil who has no power over us. Yes, my faith in God is strong, and that's the faith that I rely on. 
   I encourage you today y'all, don't bend to the fear of Satan, but instead lean into the strength and the power of Jesus, and know He is in control, and He's got you. Use your brain, be smart, but trust in Him always. I hope y'all have a wonderful and blessed day and I will talk to you again tomorrow! Please leave me a like or a comment if you enjoyed this blog and share it with your friends so I can be an encouragement to them as well.

XOXO
Jen